The term lagoon has its origins in the early seventeenth century, initially spelled as laguna. Initially, it referred specifically to the body of water surrounding Venice. However, James Cook’s use of the term to describe a body of water in a southern Pacific atoll expanded its usage to include other brackish lakes separated from the sea by barriers. The word is believed to have entered English through French from the Italian word for “pond”. The addition of the suffix –oon was to indicate the stress on a borrowed noun, similar to words like buffoon, lampoon, and harpoon. Ultimately, the Italian word can be traced back to the Latin lacus, meaning “pond” and also giving rise to the word “lake”, both originating from the Proto-Indo-European laku, meaning “body of water.”
